Judging from a raucously well-received New York screening of Les Misérableson Friday afternooon,the most exciting aspect of the 2013 Oscar race will be a contest between the precision of Steven Spielberg's Lincolnand the passion of Tom Hooper's epic musical. An enthusiastic audience that included Anne Hathaway's actress mother Kathleen Ann (she gave her daughter a big thumbs up from the crowd), applauded and sniffled its way through the two-hour-39-minute feature and a post-screening at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall. more »

Amanda Seyfried had fun on the set of Les Misérables. In a photo feature shoot with Vanity Fair.com, the actress, who plays adopted daughter Cosette to Hugh Jackman's Valjean, talks about how she and her co-star invented "alternative story lines that transformed their characters' tender relationship into something altogether less innocent," according to the website. more »

The Korean pop sensation that's taken over the world has found its way to the set of Wolverine, where the tuxedoed Psy stopped by to teach star Hugh Jackman — wearing Wolverine's adamantium claws — how to dance Gangnam Style. And I thought the Filipino prison dancers marked the jumping of the shark!more »

D'you mind if he puts his Adamantium claws around you? Twentieth Century-Fox has released the first official photo of an extremely lean and ripped Hugh Jackman in James Mangold's film adaption of Frank Miller and Chris Claremont's 1982 limited comic series classic, The Wolverine. more »

Do you hear the people sing? Actually, they're not just people, they're ac-tors! I'm talking Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried and Eddie Redmayne, the cast of Oscar winner Tom Hooper's poverty-never-looked-so-expensive film adaptation of Les Miserables. Each can be heard performing in this extended clip about Hooper's novel approach to making of the movie musical that's based on Victor Hugo's classic novel about French politics and revolution. Russell Crowe, who plays Inspector Javert and once sang for the much-mocked band 30 Odd Foot of Grunts, is also in the clip, although he doesn't show off his pipes. more »

Also in Wednesday morning's round-up of news briefs, Paramount Pictures signs a deal with Chinese platform to sent titles for VOD; the SXSW Film Festival is accepting submissions and registration; Selena Gomez to star in a new indie; and Josh Gad boards The Internship.more »

I'm a little late to this, but what's that famous saying? A day without the horror-punk icon Glenn Danzig clearing up years of speculation about his flirtation with X-Men is like a day without sunshine? Something like that. And it just gets better from there: "It wouldn't have been as gay. Actually, [Hugh Jackman] wasn't the first choice. They hired Dougray Scott. He had a falling out with the director, and then they hired Hugh Jackman. I'm glad I didn't do it. It was terrible." Anyway, what Danzig really wants to do is... you know: "I would love to do some filming and directing before I'm gone out the door. I mean dead." [LA Weekly]

First things first: Rise of the Guardians is an animated adventure, but it's not a sequel to that owl movie. I know, it's very confusing. What's more, it's about Santa Claus — a brawny, tatted-up Santa who pulls a Sam Jackson and assembles a superteam to fight evil and protect the children of the world. The other fantasy heroes called to duty? The Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, and the Sandman. It's pretty much The Avengers for kids, only I'm willing to bet it'll have a better soundtrack. Hey-oh!more »

From Meryl Streep to Martin Scorsese and awards season juggernaut The Artist, Hollywood's finest came out in full force Sunday in London for the 2012 BAFTA Awards. (Get the full list of BAFTA winners here.) Hit the jump to see who dazzled on the red carpet and celebrated backstage at the last big hurrah before the Oscars.more »

If there's one thing we still need to discuss, it's the 2011 Oscars and how co-host James Franco bungled them up. (If you believe that, I have bunch of leftover Sarah Palin jokes I'd like to fly for you.) Fellow Freaks and Geeks alum Seth Rogen responded to a question regarding Mr. Franco, and he finally weighed in on the Oscars' decision to hire young hosts. Specifically, he thinks the Academy screwed James Franco over.

James Mangold was just as apprehensive as the rest of you when the idea of a Wolverine movie fell into his lap -- so much so that he spoke with predecessor Darren Aronofsky, who was originally set to direct, before taking on the project. So what enticed him to take the helm on the Hugh Jackman-starring X-Men spin-off, anyways? And how exactly will it evoke such American classics as Chinatown and Clint Eastwood's The Outlaw Josey Wales?

In this weekend's Real Steel, Hugh Jackman stars as a boxing promoter who bonds with his estranged son over a junkyard robot that they train towards a fictional, futuristic boxing championship. So just how did an amnesiac prisoner on an Australian television series transform into a Tony and Emmy Award-winning movie star?

With September's box office duelers on their way out, it's time we clear space for two new contenders to duke it out for the moviegoing public's vote. But try as he might, does George Clooney have what it takes to unseat Hugh Jackman's crowd-pleasing sci-fi actioner, the probable weekend victor? He does have Ryan Gosling on his ticket. Not too shabby. Onward, to the polls! It's your Weekend Forecast.